BROAD STREET SCIENTIFIC STAFFEditors-in-ChiefOlivia Fugikawa, 2020Jason Li, 2020Eleanor Xiao, 2020Publication EditorsHenry Chen, 2021Kaylene Eun, 2021Daniel Jin, 2021Esha Shakthy, 2021Marina Takara, 2021Ashley Wang, 2021Biology EditorsAlisha Kamath, 2021Ishaan Maitra, 2020Akshra Paimagam, 2021Chemistry EditorsSuraj Rao, 2020Varun Varanasi, 2020Andrew Zhen, 2021Engineering EditorsSahil Azad, 2021Sriya Mantena, 2021Mathematics andComputer Science EditorsAlvin Chen, 2021Aakash Kothapally, 2020Physics EditorsAndrei Mistreanu, 2021Will Staples, 2020Faculty AdvisorDr. Jonathan Bennett6 | 2019-2020 | Broad Street Scientific
THE FORSAKEN VICTIMS OF CLIMATE CHANGEMegan MouMegan Mou was selected as the winner of the 2019-2020 Broad Street Scientific Essay Contest. Her award included theopportunity to interview Mr. Erik Troan '91, founder and CTO of Pendio.io. This interview can be found in the FeaturedArticle section of the journal.Mother Earth is dying. Nowadays, it seems like thereis always a headline that bears news of yet anotherenvironmental tragedy, and 2019 was a record year:20% of the Amazon ravaged by forest fires, almost 900deaths in the hottest England heat wave in history, and1 billion animals killed by Australia’s wildfires added upto the one of the most environmentally devastating yearsin history. The worst part of it all? Humans are directlylinked to causing these catastrophes—yet we are still notdoing enough to prevent them. Research has shown thathumans are by far the greatest contributor of CO 2, withtwo thirds of human emissions due to the burning of fossilfuels (Johnson, 2019). And when carbon dioxide and othergases enter our atmosphere, they remain for centuries,inflicting terrible damage on our planet.Why do our activities have such a great effect onEarth’s climate? To answer this, we must fully understandthe science behind global warming. The cause can besummed up in one phrase: the enhanced greenhouseeffect. When solar radiation reaches Earth’s atmosphere,some is reflected back into space, and the rest is absorbedby the land and ocean, causing Earth to radiate heattowards space. The greenhouse gases that naturally existin our atmosphere are responsible for absorbing some ofthis heat, keeping Earth warm enough to sustain life ("TheCauses of Climate Change," 2019). The problem now isthat too much of these greenhouse gases (CO 2, methane,nitrous oxide, water vapor, and chlorofluorocarbons,to name a few) is being released due to human activity,driving up average annual temperatures. The recent U.S.Fourth National Climate Assessment found that between93% to 123% of observed 1951-2010 warming was due tohuman activities (it is possible to be greater than 100%because natural factors in isolation, such as volcanoes andsolar activity, would most likely have resulted in a slightcooling over the last few decades, offsetting part of thehuman-associated warming) (Hausfather, 2017). Mostpeople who are aware of climate change are also aware ofits general environmental impacts, such as melting glaciersand rising sea levels, as well as disruption of habitats andloss of biodiversity. However, what many are not aware ofis the disproportionately large impact that climate changehas on those living in extreme poverty.There are several ways that climate change perpetuatesa cycle of poverty among the most vulnerable membersof our population. Poorer communities are not only moresusceptible to the detrimental effects of global warming,they are also less able to cope with the aftermath of theseeffects. If we continue to be bystanders, climate changecould force an additional 100 million people into extremepoverty by 2030 (Giovetti, 2019). The most significantthreat that climate change poses to the poor is thedestruction of resources. 3 out of 4 people living in povertyrely on agriculture and natural resources to survive—forthem, climate change is literally a matter of life and death.So when increasingly unpredictable weather and naturaldisasters such as sustained droughts or severe storms hitfarmers living in Haiti, Timor-Leste, or Zimbabwe, theirfamilies face starvation and dehydration as their crops andwater sources are wiped out. Climate change threatensthe world’s food and water supply—research shows thatclimate and natural disasters alone have triggered foodcrises for 29 million people. The undermining of foodproduction and loss of resources cause extreme instabilityin different communities, leading to a rise in conflicts overarable land, freshwater, and livestock. In fact, thousandshave been killed in Nigeria, where diminishing landand water resources have recently been exacerbated bythe effects of climate change, prompting long-standingtension to spark into full-fledged violence (Schwartz,2019). Clearly, existing social and economic problems areonly intensified by the consequences of climate change,and millions of people are losing their lives as a result.Those who have not been killed are being forced to flee.Rising sea levels, prolonged droughts, and natural disastersdrive millions to move away from their homes in search ofbetter livelihoods. Almost all of these displacements occurin developing countries, where residents have insufficientresources to cope with change and destruction. This cycleof poverty continues for refugees, many of whom do nothave access to education and must depend on humanitarianaid. Furthermore, many first-world countries outsourceCO 2in the form of factories to developing countries,whose labor force is eager for new jobs (Plumer, 2017).In short, climate change makes rich countries richer andpoorer countries poorer.Broad Street Scientific | 2019-2020 | 7
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